Animal Farm

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Summary: Animal Farm: A Fairy Story
Review: Animal Farm: A Fairy Story

Tracy Byrne

George Orwell called Animal Farm a fairy story, and it can be enjoyed simply as a tale about how animals try to take over a farm from men, and find they cannot manage it. Many children read it this way, siding with the animals against the farmer, saddened when things go wrong because of the nasty pigs, and weeping at the fate of Boxer. But the tale was devised as a satire on the Soviet Union, and although the country no longer exists, the influence it exerted on our ways of living and thinking certainly stayed with us and probably will for many years.
Although Animal Farm was a satire on the Russian Revolution, it was also intended to have a wider application. That kind of revolution as Orwell defined as "violent conspiratorial revolution, led by unconsciously power-hungry people", could only lead to a change of masters. He went on: "I meant the moral to be that revolutions only effect a radical improvement when the masses are alert and know how to chuck out their leaders as soon as the latter have done their job" (Orwell xl).
Animal Farm is an accurate portrayal of the Russian Revolution and is probably one of the best novels ever written. All of the characters represented a figure from the revolution. Old Major is Marx, Boxer and Clover represent the proletariat, Napoleon is Stalin, Snowball for Leon Trotsky, Farmer Frederick is Hitler Germany, etc. Even the windmill and the farmhouse represent something from the revolution. Mr. Jones' house becomes the Kremlin and the building of the windmill corresponds to Stalin's various
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plans for rapid industrialization.
Orwell succeeds in conveying the right message, not just about the Russian Revolution, but of any revolution; there is always going to be a person or persons that take advantage of their power and of the people that believe in them. Most of the time when there is a new leader that person wants to help the people, but as time goes on they get greedy and power hungry and could care less about the people. At the beginning of the novel one of the animals commandments were "All Animals are Equal" (Orwell 16). They all did the same amount of work, received the same amount of food, etc. Then the pigs decided that because they were smarter they should receive more food, do less work, etc. Soon enough the pigs were living in Mr. Jones' house, drinking alcohol, wearing clothes, while all the other animals were made to do all the work. By the end of the novel the commandment stated "All Animals are Equal but Some Animals are More Equal Than Others" (88). This is true with most governments. The leaders make the people believe that they are just like them, but in reality the leaders sit their in their big comfy chairs reaping all of the benefits, while the working class is doing all of the dirty work and getting the butt end of the deal.
In conclusion, Animal Farm is a novel of importance. It is a classic that will be read for decades more to come. One reason for its mass appeal is the classic simplicity of its language and style. The vocabulary is ordinary and commonplace without being so basic and limited as to be interesting only to children. Another important quality is its imaginative power. Anything can be done with a little bit of will. If the animals could overthrow humans, I'm sure humans could overthrow a government. But it also has a
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pessimistic quality. The animals give up so quickly and refuse to put up a fight against the pigs. They are so ready to accept it, which is what we humans do with our
government. I think Orwell was not just writing a novel about the Russian Revolution or revolutions in general, but a book about human nature.

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Summary: A wonderful edition for many reasons...
Review: Those who know the story of Animal Farm will need no recap of the plot details, so I will stick to the additions of this particular edition instead. There are other reviews that do well to document the genius of the story. I first read this in grade school, but had no idea about the political and historical context of the tale. The first reason this edition shines is that you get Orwell's original preface to the Ukrainian edition. Ukraine was a direct victim of Bolshevik policies under Stalin, and throughout the famine that occurred there due to Stalin's collectivization started in 1929 and carried out through 1932-33 at least 6 million lost their lives, while others were displaced and scattered across the world. Orwell basically says that the book is for them more so than anyone, although he chooses his words carefully. Another reason why this edition shines is Ralph Steadman's art. He is well known to many, but most will know him through his work on Hunter S. Thompson's books. The book is also printed in hardcover and has weight, unlike the paperback edition. It is a great edition to add to a collector's library, and it cannot hurt anyone to read this amazing piece of literature more than once in their lives. Highly recommended.

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Summary: Animal Farm
Review: The story, "Animal Farm", was happened in a farm which originally called Manor Farm. The animal there found that their lives were harsh just because human were selfish. Therefore, they toke revolution to overthrow human. The farm was renamed as Animal Farm. Under the leading of Snowball, which was a pig, the farm ran successfully: all the animals lived happily, freely and equally. However, this made another pig, Napoleon, become jealous. He driven away Snowball and became the new leader. Then he changed all the rules and gradually made all other animals to work for the pigs. Their lives became harsh again. At last, there was no difference between ruling by human or animals.

It seems that this is just a simple fairy story. Actually, there is an important message behind it,¡¥All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than the others'. In the story, Snowball suggested that all animals in the farm were equal, nobody could kill the others, even cats could not kill rats. However, Napoleon changed it. Pigs became more equal than the others. It just like our real world. All the animals in the world have their right to live. However, human can kill some kinds of animals for food, can control the lives of their pets, or even use other animals to do experiments. This shows that human actually are more equal than the other animals.

This story actually is a reflection of our real lives, just presented in a different way. Readers can understand this world and the reality of human more easily and clearly from this story. I would recommend it to you all.

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Summary: satire at its best
Review: From what we know about George Orwell, his politcial allegiances were complex and always subject to his own scrutiny. One thing can be said with a certain amount of scrutiny: he distrusted any form of government that claimed to be for everybody and claimed to disperse power among the masses. ANIMAL FARM is his warning.

This fable, which is what it really is, condemns what Stalin had made of the Russian Revolution. Truth be told, Orwell was very much aware that anyone with power would have turned that revolution into revenue.

But Capitalism is not spared either. When reading this novel closely, Orwell acknowledged that power was always seated where the money was evident. (Why else did the pigs make arrangements for trade with mankind?) This is an excoriating view of politics as power, and how no manifesto or declaration is free from the human greed that will opportunistically profit from it.

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Summary: Animal Farm - Not A Book I Expected To Enjoy
Review: This book has been lying around my house since I was born. Never was I interested enough to pick it up and read it, however short it may be. However, this year in my English class, we're required to read 2 books from a pre-approved college reading material list and I decided that Animal Farm would be a good one as it is short and available to me.

What a shock was I in for! This book was just amazing. I didn't lose interest for a second and it just pulled at my emotions. Now I'm going back and reading, on a site, about how it related to the political issues of the time. I definitely recommend reading Animal Farm.

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Summary: Awesome
Review: This is probably the greatest short story ever written, and is an unmitigated classic of our time. This fable of how dark impulses for power and control makes for an amazing satire of the communist system. It's just a great an easy story that any educated person would enjoy, though one should be warned that it doesn't have a happy ending, whcich makes it all more powerful.

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Summary: Animal Farm
Review: Animal Farm witten by George Orwell is a very good book. The way that Orwell wrote this book makes it feel as if your a part of it. The deceitful ways of Napolean and the pigs almost pisses you off as if you are being deceived. Orwell's view of communisim in Russia is one that must be respected.
I would reccomend this book to anyone that is intersted in history and/or government. As well as to anyone that enjoyed Orwell's book 1984. Which was another genius peice that he has written.
The way Orwell showed how the pigs changed all of their commandments and then fooled the other animals into thinking that they are too stupid to remember what the commandment actually said was genius. As well the pigs convincing the other animals that everything they are doing is for the benefit of the public. Orwell really reflected the way things were with communisim in Russia, he criticized it pretty accuratley.
He exposed it's flaws, how better could it have been done than the line saying that "all animals are equall but some are more equal than others"
Once again I feel it is an important book to read. It is always good to hear others views and this a good chance to be able to do that, while reading an entertaining story as well.

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Summary: Oh my goodness----just... No
Review: I personally hated this book. I found it thouroughly boring it's tone was intolerqbly bleak and epressing--and poor Boxer! This book was such a bummer. I highly suggest AGAINST reading this book. I'm sure some people enjoyed, but most of my English class and I disliked it. I'm sure the author was a wonderful person, but this was just not a good book. Read something happier like, oh I don't know, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It's amd excellent read, and with the Holidays coming up, everyone wants to feel happy.

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Summary: Good, quick, and easy
Review: This book was a good one that went by in no time, the plot was simple, and the writing was easy to understand. To understand this book in depth you must know your history quite well. But overall if you want a fun read thats not meaningless mind candy, then read this. This book is very amusing and is definately worth you time.

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Summary: ...But Some are More Equal than Others
Review: "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others," is the baffling commandment written on the barn wall at the end of Animal Farm. It is not understood until the reader has made his or her way through the satire, encountering the feats and challenges of Naploean, Snowball, and the other animals living on the farm. Animal Farm is a witty, yet critical story of the farm animals on the former Manor Farm, overthrowing the human owner, Mr. Jones. The old boar, Major, professes that humans are the root of all evil and the animals must rebel and take control of the farm. His goal is to spread this message to animals everywhere, and eventually animals will take control over humans entirely. Finding that each event and character relates to an aspect of Russian history, reading Animal Farm became not only an irresistible book to put down, but a continually unfolding story of Russia in its totalitarian state that Orwell, the author, so despised. The excitement of the rebellion of the animals creates a vivid picture in my mind, as does the animals' confusion of the totalitarianism that begins to form. As the pigs continue to gain power and the animals continue to be convinced that it is for beneficial reasons, I cringed at their stupidity, which was probably Orwell's intention. As the story unfolds, it becomes predictable in a good way, as to how the animals will react to Naploean's incessant rise in power.
Throughout the novel I found Squealer to be my least favorite character. Representing the propaganda viewed by the public due of Stalin's (Naploean) orders, Squealer makes speeches to the animals, lying to convince them that Naploean's power- hungry ways will positively affect them. This becomes very frustrating when the animals continue to believe Squealer's nonsense about things that obviously aren't true. His way of manipulating the animals is very perplexing and evil, making him my least favorite character, yet most intriguing.

Animal Farm is very original in the sense that it is not only an enjoyable, leisurely read on its literal level, but creatively educates readers about Russian history at the same time. George Orwell cleverly created characters and a whole story about animals on a farm that symbolize figures and aspects of the rise of communism in Russia. Animal Farm is witty in the sense that these Russian leaders he is critical of represent pigs, and extremely critical of totalitarianism, which Orwell strongly despises.
At some points during my reading of Animal Farm, I was confused as to why and how the animals could possibly believe the outrageous lies that Squealer spoke of. It just didn't seem believable that they would be this gullible. However, knowing that this novel is a satire, I learned that satires often exaggerate points to make the reader more critical of an aspect of society. Orwell most likely exaggerated the animals being this gullible and the egregious stories Squealer made up, making me much more critical of totalitarianism.
I would definitely recommend this book to all of my friends or anyone wanting a fun read. I would also recommend it to anyone looking to teach or learn about Russian history.
I would love to read other works by George Orwell because he puts aspects of society into a whole new perspective. Not only does Animal Farm represents aspects of Russian history through animals and their life on a farm, his opinions are very strong, and seem to grow throughout the book. It would be interesting to see what else he has to say in his other books.
The end of Animal Farm is the most clever and witty part of the entire book and leaves the reader laughing and stupefied at the same time. What I love about the ending is the complete irony it presents.
Orwell remarks at the end of Animal Farm that the story ironically ends almost in the same state it began. The problem at the beginning becomes the problem in the end; it went full circle. The difference between man and pig is incoherent. Just read it. You'll love it.